Article originally posted in French on the site of Nantes Métropole, 13/02/2020

The towers, the media library, the green spaces, the paddling pool… Under the intrigued eyes of teenagers, Nantes Nord is revealed in 3D. “It’s great to be able to look out over the neighbourhood,” enthuses 11-year-old Azedine. The tablets pass from hand to hand and fingers move with dexterity over the touch screens. After indicating their age group and area of residence, teens are invited to imagine the future face of Nantes Nord by selecting developments from a list of “nature-based solutions” (NBS) and positioning them in the modelled neighbourhood.

The vegetable garden is the most popular installation. “It allows you to have more nature and it’s important to be able to eat,” explains Azedine. “There aren’t enough vegetables in the city,” regrets 13-year-old Wayatt, who also opted for a green roof. Also on offer: an urban forest, multi-purpose wooden structures, a mushroom farm… In this neighbourhood, which will be profoundly renovated by 2030, teenagers are waiting for “more green spaces and playgrounds to exercise”. Basketball courts, swings, water installations… Ideas are springing up and young people can submit their proposals on Super Barrio: “The menus are a little slow but otherwise it’s very well done,” stresses Azedine.

“The SuperBarrio application has been well conceived. You can get a good overview of the neighbourhood. I installed a vegetable garden because it allows to have more nature and it is important to be able to eat. In the future, I would like to have more green spaces and playgrounds. I think it’s great to have an app to improve the neighbourhood.” Azdine, 11

A new consultation tool

First successful test for the application developed in Barcelona in the framework of the URBiNAT project. Piloted by the European Commission, it aims to improve the living environment, the health of inhabitants and social cohesion in disadvantaged neighbourhoods by putting vegetation at the heart of public space. URBiNAT brings together a consortium of cities including Nantes, Brussels, Porto and Sofia. “The idea behind Super Barrio is to collect the inhabitants’ planning guidelines and to present this data to the municipalities to enable them to identify citizens’ expectations,” explains Mohamad Atab, the architect in charge of the project, who has come to collect the first feedback on the application. “It is a novel consultation tool that makes it possible to reach people who are more distant from the traditional channels of participation, such as young people or people who have difficulty getting around,” says Nathalie Roguez-Villette, who is in charge of the URBiNAT project at the city. “We are really in a test phase, we don’t yet know when it will be launched. “In the meantime, consultation is still taking place in the field.

In the spring, the City will organise urban walks around the green loops of Nantes Nord. The first meeting will take place on Saturday 4 April at 10 am.

For more information on these urban walks: charlotte.cardinal@mairie-nantes.fr